Involver (Ltd.Ed) [Limited Edition]

I love this album, just as much as Air Drawn Dagger - very similar flavor. It is melodic, emotional and sophisticated with some unique elements which cause me to crank the volume! I love Sasha's new style and I can't wait to hear what he comes up with next. Its almost as if his style has matured over the years along with me! Although this album may not be as intense as some would come to expect from Sasha, I hope that you can learn to enjoy him on a completely different level. Highly recommended.

I was in NYC the week that Sasha Released this album and spun at Crobar. I did not make it to the event that night.

Then I happened to learn that he was doing an in store appearance at Virgin in Union Square. I was only able to hear the last 11 minutes of his set--which I was told was an hour. There were only about 100 some people there.

Basically---if he had spun for a half hour more the place would have turned into a full on all nighter. He blew the first floor off the building------

And it was with tunes from INVOLVER. This is worth noting as I have read people who think he needs to return to his GU:Ibiza ways. At one point, I too wished that INVOLVER--was a floor stomping mad hatter party. But Sasha is really pushing himself as a producer/artist as much as he is already the Man Like who can mix with his right toe alone.

No, you probably won't blow your windows out with this one. But I guarantee, Beyond any reasonable doubt, that this album should entice you to want to hear him spin live even more. He has never been, but cannot, now more than ever, be given the label as simply a great mixer, but an artist as well.

And AIRDRAWNDAGGER is still amazing.

Wooooow, what a looney I was when I thought this mix is a bit too much! Too bad I was finding the bad side without ever looking on the bright side (which is far too delicious to miss). 'Involver' is one craftily-turned up mix. Maybe if it comes to it, one of the best this year? Perhaps it is something about Sasha, he always a little intimidated me with his bright musical mind and a drive that carries him through decades! What a geek! But our geek;) One reviewer was right when he said that this is 'airdrawndaggerised mix', well, not completely true, in fact true only in some parts regarding sound structure and all the tweaking involved:D This CD is a 'pusher' for Sasha, his unreachable musical dreams have haunted us for some time, but Involver is taking it to the ridiculous levels of emotional positives and negatives. In short it is slamming! Beautiful! Very fragile and yet wide as the sky! It is almost like love it's so good!
The album starts out with Grand National- talk amongst yourselves. A piece not to leave you sitting there waiting for the next. It feels as a troubling feeling of waiting for something massive to fall down. You want to replay it already? Classic klinky-bleepy sounds, I don't have a way explaining those, with very impressive background work, I can hear several different strings in the background and now someones voice used as an instrument and mucked with, very beautiful, plus a vocal that you always try to reach, Sasha always seems a few steps ahead of you.
Strange, whenever I am reviewing Sasha, nothing but feelings that came from music come out, instead of the beats I hear a bear.
The next track comes in so smoothly it makes you want to cry. Very ancient sounding 'dorset perception' is the beginner of breakbeat on the album. The beats are very impressive, not just your regular break-beat tracks. Some of these originally are 4x4s. Also 'dorset perseption' has a definite Spanish feel with pretty much every sound in the track being a physical piece of gear, and spanish-feeling but dreamy guitars meeting you two-thirds of the way to the end of the tune.
We all know Petters 'These Days'. A piece of music in my opinion so geniously created that it even suits young babies to listen to it. The sound (THE sound everyone knows;) in these days feels so gentle, so kiddish, but then it has wisdom not known to everyone. This music is almost too human, it knows where to hit and what to say. Go away flies, I am talking to the amazonians here, stop eating my flesh and go wait until I am sleeping!!!!! >:(
Now, UNKLE 'what you are to me' is actually an acapella worked into Sashas remake of 'these days', and before you know it, Petters melody comes out again and everything feels like it's making sence. Mind you, for a first listen, this album might make you feel overwhelmed, there is too much to listen for in it, and you will not hear even half during the first take.
My favorite tune on the album is next, it is The Youngsters 'Smile'. Definitely the most intriguing piece of all. It's baseline has got an increddible 'doubled' sound with a million feelings at once. Much attitude and it fills pretty much the whole spectrum. I love that kind of determination. Vocals are used throughout, but they are also used as instruments, they sound like chopped up singing, very chopped up and it seems as if all of them have a place. But they are only background, with a stunning continuos string, it sounds to me like a silver hair for some reason, with light bouncing off of it, must be for its clarity property. Things then change and the bassline becomes this warbled, rippled chopper that sounds fantastic on the dance floor. Plus there are always all these noises that by themselves have little structure, but they sound tasty and fit perfectly with the rhythm all the time. Over all a piece you can always trust. If you like it, why don't you check out Youngsters' albums. That yellow one and the one with a scary monster.
Track number 6 is the ultimate peaker. Sasha himself sais in the booklet that he wanted to make a bigger vertion of the original, and so that is what he did. It has a giant feel to it with a vocal that at times takes up the whole sky. Some people laugh at these comparances, but if we can see far, can we not hear far too? That is why we so much call it a world, a feeling, so beautiful. Does it make us feel peace? The bassline is driving and positive, a comparison would be to some Holdens basslines, there are also a good deal of waving going on and the beat is very precice feeling. After a while it changes into a more 'in-the-club' groove with the vocal still remaining big, a cool contrast. Basically a huge track with even better surprises, cannot tell all.
I was going to end reviewing when one more track came into my mind that could not be missed. UNKLE 'in a state' has been big mainly because of Sasha, as his first remix of it came out. Now Involver is going to, at least for a time, immortalize these times when we all joined as 'In a State' came on, no matter who played it, we were reminded of something greater and real that is. There are female vocals overlapping each other in a smooth fashion, fullfilling each other, climbing up on each others shoulders trying to reach far beyond anyones beliefs. There are also guitars dreamy and gentle. RRRRRRRRRRR
The rest of the album is equally surprising and ahead of itself. I hope it will make everyone smile the way I smiled. It's good